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The Restoration Settlement, 1660 - 64

Charles had promised religious toleration, but the ultra-royalist Cavalier Parliament, elected in 1661, was determined to restore the Anglican Church and to persecute non-conformists.

1661: The Corporation Act allowed only Anglicans to hold office in local corporations. Many corporations were Puritan strongholds, and the Act severely weakened Puritan power and influence

1662: The Quaker Act imposed severe financial penalties on Quakers

1662: The Act of Uniformity required all clergymen to accept Anglican doctrines and rituals. As a result, hundreds of parish priests were driven from their livings

1664: The Conventicle Act forbade dissenting assemblies of more than five people

During his reign Charles tried to change some of the harsher aspects of the religious settlement, but his actions only caused conflict between crown and parliament

The settlement of government and finance, 1660 - 64

Parliament used its most influential form of power - finance - to limit Charles. On the surface, Charles received a generous settlement of £1.2 million a year and a new Heath Tax, a tax on every fireplace and stove in the kingdom, was introduced in 1662. While putting Charles in a better position than early Stuart monarchs, it was not enough to make him independent. Charles was therefore always reliant on further parliamentary finance, for which he would need the consent of Mps.

In 1664 the Cavalier Parliament replaced the Triennial Act of 1641 with a much weaker version. The new Act did not established a procedure to be followed if the king failed to call a parliament.

The Declaration of Breda, 1660

Before he returned to England, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda.

to listen to the advice of parliament

an indemnity - people would not be persecuted for the actions they took during the civil wars, except for those who took part in the execution of Charles I or who resisted the king's return, the details of which were to be settled by parliament

'liberty to tender consciences' - toleration for peaceful religious beliefs, the details of which were to be settled by parliamen

settlement of disputes over land would be decided by parliament

payment of the army's wages

The search for stability, 1660

Charles II and the Convention Parliament attempted to ensure political stability in 1660

The Act of Indemnity and Oblivion granted a general pardon to supporters of the republican regimes, apart from those who had condemned Charles I to death

Land confiscated during the republican period was restored to its original owners